quote:2003 lost at home to a Ron Zook coached Florida team lead by a true freshman QB who beat them by throwing over the middle time after time.

Amazing how the last game is the only one that matters to some people. That 03 loss to a shitty arse 5 loss Zook team AT HOME in a game we didn't score a single offensive point and got torched by a freshman QB is so much more embarrassing than losing a rematch to one of the best defensive teams of all time after we beat them the first time on the road.

How some people can't see that is just beyond me.

But the haters continue to call Miles "lucky". It's hilarious. Miles is the most UNLUCKY coach of all time. Saban on the other hand, as great as he is, dude has never had a bad draw in his career.

Sure it's great that 03 ended with a trophy, but pretending Miles is the only coach to have a team, even a great team, get embarrassed in a game is funny.

quote:That 03 loss to a shitty arse 5 loss Zook team AT HOME in a game we didn't score a single offensive point and got torched by a freshman QB is so much more embarrassing than losing a rematch to one of the best defensive teams of all time after we beat them the first time on the road

1/9/12 is more embarrassing IMO. and I'm talking the shutout moreso than the loss. that was the NC game, with a month to prepare, and we looked like absolute trash on offense. no attempt to at least try to change QBs when Jordan had looked horrific the previous game as well. I'm not a Les "hater", I think he's a damn good coach, I just think he didn't have much of a gameplan that day on offense, and not much to fall back on when things went bad.

the loss to UF was a letdown game if ever there was one (post UGA), and the next week we turned to the freshman RBs and never really looked back. that game was more a turning point for our offense and helped us define that side of the ball for the remainder of the year.

" the loss to UF was a letdown game if ever there was one (post UGA), and the next week we turned to the freshman RBs and never really looked back. that game was more a turning point for our offense and helped us define that side of the ball for the remainder of the year.

Not "hatin'" or "lovin'" on anybody, but I do agree with this analysis. If one wants to say that something more pro-Miles, I would say that the 2003 UF loss was worse than either of the triple OT setbacks the 2007 team had.

quote:the loss to UF was a letdown game if ever there was one (post UGA), and the next week we turned to the freshman RBs and never really looked back. that game was more a turning point for our offense and helped us define that side of the ball for the remainder of the year.

Not accurate. It's one of the things that bother me when people romanticize how things actually went down during the Saban era and then tend to overblow the bad times of our current coach. Not saying you're doing this intentionally but it just happens over time.

In 2003 LSU beat Georgia week 4, then went to MSU and blew them out by 35 points.

THEN we had a BYE WEEK.

Then, LSU laid the egg at home, after having TWO WEEKS to prepare for that game. ZERO points on O against a 5 loss team.

Calling UF a "letdown" game is classic revisionist history, whether it is intentional or you just forgot the details over time.

ah, my bad. memory's off. I just remember my asking my Source Close to the Team wtf happened after UF. he told me he thought everyone had been patting the team on the back too much after beating UGA and being undefeated, and they seemed to have lost focus. thought it was the very next game.

quote:ah, my bad. memory's off. I just remember my asking my Source Close to the Team wtf happened after UF. he told me he thought everyone had been patting the team on the back too much after beating UGA and being undefeated, and they seemed to have lost focus.

See, and I actually buy that.

It makes sense. Getting the big W against UGA with Gameday on campus and then crushing MSU, I bet the team spent that bye week telling themselves how great they were.

But that makes 1/9 understandable to me for the same reason.

People were calling 2011 LSU possibly the BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME.

We crushed EVERYONE except Bama, but had already BEATEN them. On the road no less. Beat them twice in a row and now got to play them in The Dome??? And instead of two weeks, 2011 had A MONTH to pat themselves on the back for going 13-0 against the toughest schedule in NCAA history.

That team must have been on a high like no other thinking they were about to get their coronation like the 03 and 07 teams did in The Dome.

NO WAY we could lose there right??

It's just a real shame that the team didn't have a team like OSU or Stanford to prepare for and not think that they could just repeat 11/5 and walk away with the trophy.

The 03 team was the best team I have ever seen at LSU in my life. The D was indescribably good. And the offense was balanced well. Not to mention our running backs were probably equivalent to the Mark Ingram/Trent Richardson tandem.

quote:2003 LSU vs 2011 LSUThese teams play ten games against each other. What is the series record and what is the over/under for total points per game?

2011 offense would be held in check by the 2003 defense in pretty much every game. The only way 2011 scores is by defense or special teams. 2003 wouldn't score all that much, but enough. 2003 wins at least 8 and maybe all 10. I'd say average points per game would be about 21 for 2003 and about 13 for 2011.

quote: That 03 loss to a shitty arse 5 loss Zook team AT HOME in a game we didn't score a single offensive point and got torched by a freshman QB

We didn't exactly get "torched" by Chris Leak. Florida only scored 19 points, and we had at least a couple of turnovers (that would have gone for scores) negated by bad referees' calls. We sacked him all day and forced fumbles but just couldn't get the calls. If a couple of those go the right way, we shake his confidence badly and win that game, IMO.

quote:more embarrassing than losing a rematch to one of the best defensive teams of all time after we beat them the first time on the road.

Both games were pathetic no-shows. So, for embarrassment factor, it seems to come down to what the circumstances were for the games. One was an afternoon home game against a team that was reeling at the time and was a huge underdog to us, while the other was a national championship game. Which situation is more embarrassing for a team to just decide not to show up?

quote:the loss to UF was a letdown game if ever there was one (post UGA), and the next week we turned to the freshman RBs and never really looked back.

Let me clarify this...we didn't turn to them, we were forced to play them as our previous two starters, Shy Carey and Joe Addai had gone down against MSU and Florida respectively. This wasn't some brilliant strategic move by Saban (not saying you're saying it is...but I've heard others do just that) but one in which he had no choice. The only reason Alley and Justin (and even Barrington Edwards) got those touches against USCe was because the first two options were on the shelf.

As it turned out, it was the spark we needed to go on that second half run...but had those guys not gone down there's nothing to indicate JV and Alley would have gotten any significant touches as they had not up to that point in the season behind the older guys.

quote:We didn't exactly get "torched" by Chris Leak. Florida only scored 19 points, and we had at least a couple of turnovers (that would have gone for scores) negated by bad referees' calls. We sacked him all day and forced fumbles but just couldn't get the calls. If a couple of those go the right way, we shake his confidence badly and win that game, IMO.

Chris Leak 18/30 229 7.6 2 0

Maybe "torched" was a bit of a strong word, but he sure played a damn good game. Especially considering he was a freshman with very little PT playing probably LSU's best defense of all time in Tiger Stadium. And we were absolutely "torched" on those 2 TD calls. D never saw either one coming and they were the same play. No excuse for that D.

quote:One was an afternoon home game against a team that was reeling at the time and was a huge underdog to us, while the other was a national championship game. Which situation is more embarrassing for a team to just decide not to show up?

Well, that's simplifying both "situations" a bit isn't it?

03 FL was a home game against the SEC standard bearer for the previous decade. The last time UF came into Tiger Stadium they beat ever loving frick out of LSU's SEC Champion team in the worst beat down of a good LSU team I have ever seen. Talk about embarrassment.

Then Spurrier left, and we beat them in 02 with Mauck going down at the end of a blowout, which sent that season off the rails.

The team should have wanted to win that game to flex their muscles and prove that they were the new big boys on the block. We had a legit National Title shot for the first time in 45 years and there was no indication that if we lost that game, or any game after, that we'd be able to get back into the championship picture.

2011, after going 13-0 against the toughest schedule in NCAA history, that group had the insult of having to play a team they had already beaten on the road yet again. The voters basically told them that what they had done wasn't good enough, and didn't mean anything.

If that isn't deflating as shit, I don't know what is.

Of course, they could have used the slight as motivation, and I'm sure that's what they tried to do and believed they were doing, but the ultimate disappointment probably couldn't be avoided I would guess.

It just couldn't have made much sense.

And as good a bowl game coach as Miles had been up to that point, it was certainly a new challenge getting a team prepared and focused for a month on a team that everything in their football experience would have told them was already supposed to be behind them.

Both situations had their difficulties, but teams should be more accustomed to dealing with and overcoming the adversities that the 03 team couldn't versus what the 2011 team couldn't.

quote:03 FL was a home game against the SEC standard bearer for the previous decade. The last time UF came into Tiger Stadium they beat ever loving frick out of LSU's SEC Champion team in the worst beat down of a good LSU team I have ever seen. Talk about embarrassment.

Not to hijack the thread, but that's another game that gets completely forgotten in the revisionism that has become Nick Saban's tenure at LSU. That 2001 date rape Steve Spurrier and Rex Grossman laid on LSU at home was just absolutely stunning. Grossman should have won the Heisman that year, and in large part because of what he did to LSU that game.

That 2001 team was just SOOO fortunate on so many levels. Had it not been for 9/11 and the subsequent postponement of the early season AU game, LSU almost certainly would not have gone 5-3 and backed themselves into the SECCG. Likewise, if not for that weekend's games being delayed, UF would have likely beaten TENN soundly as well and UF would have been waiting in Atlanta with a trip to the Rose Bowl/NCG at stake instead of TENN.

quote:Well, that's simplifying both "situations" a bit isn't it? 03 FL was a home game against the SEC standard bearer for the previous decade. The last time UF came into Tiger Stadium they beat ever loving frick out of LSU's SEC Champion team in the worst beat down of a good LSU team I have ever seen. Talk about embarrassment. Then Spurrier left, and we beat them in 02 with Mauck going down at the end of a blowout, which sent that season off the rails. The team should have wanted to win that game to flex their muscles and prove that they were the new big boys on the block. We had a legit National Title shot for the first time in 45 years and there was no indication that if we lost that game, or any game after, that we'd be able to get back into the championship picture.

Or you could describe it as a home afternoon game against a big underdog we'd beaten by four touchdowns at their place the year before. I was at that game and you could feel all over campus that the energy just wasn't there like it was for the Georgia game. Even the weather was overcast and dreary. There's no excuse for it. We should have showed up to play. But not showing up for a situation like that vs. not showing up for a NC game?

quote:2011, after going 13-0 against the toughest schedule in NCAA history, that group had the insult of having to play a team they had already beaten on the road yet again. The voters basically told them that what they had done wasn't good enough, and didn't mean anything. If that isn't deflating as shit, I don't know what is. Of course, they could have used the slight as motivation, and I'm sure that's what they tried to do and believed they were doing, but the ultimate disappointment probably couldn't be avoided I would guess. It just couldn't have made much sense.

It's a national championship game. No matter what the circumstances, you don't just not show up for it.

quote:And as good a bowl game coach as Miles had been up to that point, it was certainly a new challenge getting a team prepared and focused for a month on a team that everything in their football experience would have told them was already supposed to be behind them. Both situations had their difficulties, but teams should be more accustomed to dealing with and overcoming the adversities that the 03 team couldn't versus what the 2011 team couldn't. That's just a historical fact.

Yes, it was a new challenge and playing in a rematch was difficult. But it's a national championship game. How do you just decide not to show up? The 2011 team just flat didn't care in the NC game. That's inexcusable. And unlike the 2003 Florida game, there was literally NO chance of getting back into the NC picture if we lost it.

It's pointless for us to sit here and say which horrible day was worse. They were both terrible. I stand by my speculation that the 2003 team would have beaten the 2011 team almost every time.

okay, so most peoples opinions of which team was better is based on love of coach miles vs coach saban, level of tolerance of jj, and/or feelings of which is worst "not showing up" vs 2003 UF or "not showing up" vs bama in the mnc game.

please dont let me get in the way of your emotions dictating your thoughts.